inference of homologous recombination in bacteria using whole genome sequences
Bacteria, unlike us, can reproduce on their own. They do however have
mechanisms that transfer DNA between organisms, a process more formally
known as recombination. The mechanisms by which recombination takes
place have been studied extensively in the laboratory but much remains
to be understood concerning how, when and where recombination takes
place within natural populations of bacteria and how it helps them to
adapt to new environments. ClonalOrigin performs a comparative analysis
of the sequences of a sample of bacterial genomes in order to
reconstruct the recombination events that have taken place in their
ancestry.